Virgin Media Community

[stuart264]

I have had a long running issue with the Hub 3 disconnecting overnight that I have raised multiple times with Virgin, one of their engineers came last year went through everything and said it all tested fine but he was a bit concerned that some of the other unused connections in this block of flats could be causing issues and needed terminating at the distribution panel on the roof.

Last night was exceptionally bad for disconnects, so I went into the Hub 3 network logs and discovered a whole list of No Ranging Response received, RCS Partial Service & SYNC Timing Synchronization failure all coming from the same MAC address of **:**:**:**:**:** which is not equipment on my network and the Mac to Vendor List says that's a Cisco Systems device which I don't have (I run Netgear and TP-Link equipment)

Just spent ages on the phone with Virgin insisting that its a problem with my equipment and its down to the Hub 3.0 being in modem mode and them insisting that because I can connect to the internet on with the hub in router mode with my pc directly plugged in its not their problem, which isn't actually the issue the connection going offline during the night is.

Anyone have any suggestions as to how I can convince Virgin that the equipment that's showing the fault isn't mine as they refused point blank to even check to see if a device with the mac of **:**:**:**:**:** and even denied that they use Cisco systems equipment on their network.

Update did some more digging on the MAC address, it resolves to a Cadent Inc, Cable modem network termination device (Now Arris International.)

[Andrew-G]

@stuart264 Update did some more digging on the MAC address, it resolves to a Cadent Inc, Cable modem network termination device (Now Arris International.)

...who make the Hub 3.

I suggest you setup a BQM over at https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality that'll show what's going on with your VM connection.  Post a LINK to a LIVE, SHARED graph here and we'll see what's happening.  Usually needs to run for 24 hours before we can draw reasonable conclusions, but the live graph will continuously update so you can post the link immediately.

Regarding the network log errors, those have nothing to do with router or modem mode, although they're accessed via the system's router (your own or the hub's), but the data refers to the cable modem connection with the CMTS at the far distant end of the coax network round the local streets. 

[stuart264]

Thanks, I already had a BQM setup here  I know its the equipment outside but I am stuck in this permanent loop where I can see its external equipment but unless it shows up on a magic virgin log somewhere and (the Hub 3 logs don't count) Virgin either say its my equipment or that the hub is in modem mode or anything that isn't VM, I think I have filed something like 10-15 fault calls, had to file a formal complaint to get a replacement Hub3 because after a really good engineer came out and tested everything and said that it wasn't my equipment but the Hub3 needed swapping to exclude that from the diagnostic procedures.

The suspicion was that its something on the roof of this building but due to the door being secured after the following happened. 

• The ex-next door neighbours nephew tampering with it to steal cable usage.
• Someone living up there that was only discovered when the lift broke down.
• Issues with loose dropped cables that eventually my Housing Association got their electrical contractors to secure as they got nowhere with Virgin

The engineer wasn't able to get the door security code to gain access because it was pretty much an open secret as to where the key was in the emergency lighting fitting, so its all been replaced with a much more secure door and access system.

[jpeg1]

There are no dropouts showing in that BQM.

Apart from those entries in the network log, what happens during the dropouts?  

[Z92]

You will need to post your hub logs, including upstream and downstream results, but from your BQM your connection actually looks pretty good.

Note that it's not uncommon for a hub to lose connection over night due to software updates and maintenance windows.

Do you ever lose connection during the day?

[stuart264]

I lose connection at all times of the day and night, firstly by losing DNS lookup and then about 30 seconds later the connection goes and I have to reboot the Hub, as for the logs, nothing shows up indicating an error, its almost as if something outside my place suddenly craps out and rebooting the hub connects it again. Possibly a multiplexer or similar somewhere?

[Andrew-G]

If VM are saying they've done what they can, and the hub's status data and BQM aren't showing anything material, then it will be near impossible to get them to commit a technician again.  VM know from experience that unless triaged, around 30% of call outs find no fault, so generally it is necessary for VM to be able to see, or the customer to present clear evidence of a fault.  If your network log is still full of timeouts and partial service reports, then post that up and we'll take a look, but if there's only a few sprinkled over a few weeks then that's close to normal for VM.

So although I don't doubt what you say, absent more evidence I think your most dependable fix might be cancelling VM and getting be a new Openreach connection if that's available?  And if you go down that route, when you phone to cancel, customer retention staff may offer to book a technician for you (they're on bonuses to retain customers), and by all means give VM a last chance to fix it.  But don't accept any renewal or discount offer until after the problem is fixed, as you'll be locked into a new 18 month contract.

[-tony-]

as said above your bqm shows no dropouts - whist not disputing what you say can we establish that the dropout are on wired devices - if so then the bqm is saying something different which i dont understand - if the drops are just wifi then thats a different problem and nothing to do with VM other than maybe the hub lan connector is iffy and you are losing connection between the hub and your router hence losing connection wifi and as i type that that theory could hold good for wired connections to your own router

so go back to the history on your bqm and look to see if there are any recorded dropouts - if not then you need to look wider - it may be that the 24 hours  shown on the bqm all was ok

as to the hub being in modem mode and CS not wanting to know you can get round that by putting it in router mode and setting your router up as a switch/access point - just disable DHCP and change its internal addy - you lose some of its better settings but get round the - we cannot help line from CS

by putting the hub into router mode you can use a different lan port to connect your router - that may cure the problem if its an iffy port - it could also still show as it would not be the 1st hub that had intermittent port problem

from all of that you are either going to say the hub is ok or its lan ports are faulty - i am surprised CS have not sent you a replacement hub - maybe they have finally stopped doing that - they gave them out like sweets - it was the second best fix after resetting the hub

[Paulina_Z]

Hi @stuart264,

Welcome back to our Community Forums! Thank you for your post and I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing some connection drop outs!

As pointed out earlier, your BQM chart does not show any drop outs from your connection.

I was able to locate your account and complete some further checks. I was able to double check your power levels and I cannot see any issues on our systems. It's all in spec and not showing any issues on the system. 

I can see that your Hub is currently in Modem Mode. This might be a reason that we cannot see any errors, as we cannot run diagnostics on third party equipment or while the Hub is in Modem Mode.

If you can, please revert your Hub back to router mode and monitor your connection via the BQM chart for 24 hours. After this, we'll be able to check back and see if there are any issues showing on the system.

Please keep us updated on how you get on.

Thanks! 🙂